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Tommy Fleetwood: Race to Dubai leader enjoys cushion at Nedbank

By Kathlene Bissell

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
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Tommy Fleetwood is in the driver’s seat in the Race to Dubai Finals, and he’s getting a helping hand this week from some timely scheduling at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Tommy Fleetwood is leading the Race to Dubai, but he can probably hear the patter of big soft spikes behind him as he tees it up in the second-to-last-event in the European Tour season, the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. He needs a good finish to lock up the Race to Dubai title before the finale, a week from Sunday. He must be the luckiest golfer alive because most of the top contenders have done him a favor by sitting out the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Justin Rose, the winner at the Turkish Airlines Open and the WGC-HSBC tournament in China, vaulted into second place in the season-long race and is now a mere 134,839 points behind Fleetwood. Unfortunately for Rose, he underestimated his ability to win those two, and he did not put the Nedbank on his calendar. Will it cost him the Race to Dubai? We will have to wait and see.

"“I made the decision based on what I know works for me as a golfer, and having played — been a pro 20-odd — well, nearly 20 years, I kind of know what works for me and what doesn’t,” Rose said after winning the Turkish Airlines Open. “My decision was based around that, and also family commitments. Being away from the kids for six weeks is not something that I do.”"

Rose won the European Order of Merit in 2007.  That award was replaced with the Race to Dubai which started in 2009.

"“I put myself in a predicament about next week,” Rose said after winning the Turkish Airlines Open. “It’s in Tommy’s hands still. He’s definitely a couple hundred thousand ahead, and I just know I need to go and play well in Dubai. That’s been my mentality from the outset and it is not going to change. It’s exciting to be within touching distance.”"

Rose’s decision could have made way for Sergio Garcia, now in third place in the Race to Dubai points.  However, Garcia, winner of the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, is also sitting this week out. He probably did not expect to be in such close contention either.

Despite a career that started in 1999, Garcia never spent enough time in Europe to win the Order of Merit or the Race to Dubai.  His best finish to date in the European season-long chase was the year he turned pro, 1999, when he was third.

Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy among European Tour stars missing Nedbank

Next on the list is Jon Rahm.  As recently as the Tour Championship Rahm professed a desire to win both the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai.

“It’s something really hard to accomplish. I mean, one of them would be something outstanding, something beyond belief,” he said. “So, if I ever get to do it, it will be a really special moment. But if I get to do it in my rookie year, yeah, that’ll be I mean, I can’t explain it. I can’t explain what winning any of this will feel because it’s something so different than what we play for usually. And as a rookie, just I can’t to be honest, I still can’t fathom winning any of those things because it’s so, so special.”

However, Rahm will also be missing at the Nedbank.

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Two more in the top ten will not be playing at the Gary Player CC:  Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.  McIlroy is still nursing a few injuries from 2016 and 2017, and Stenson hurt his ribs in a flying photo op at the WGC-HSBC.   He may have looked like a super hero in the pictures, but his body wasn’t from planet Krypton.  Man of steel on the outside, human on the inside.

With those big names out, Tommy Fleetwood may never again have as good a chance at the Race to Dubai title as he has right now. With a victory in South Africa,  he can probably lock it up. If he has a poor finish, he ushers in a gaggle of golfers, including Rose, Garcia, Rahm, up and comer Tyrrell Hatton and veterans Ross Fisher and Rafa Cabrera Bello.   Should Fleetwood win this week, he will be more than a million points ahead of his nearest rival with one tournament to play.

Next: European Tour Power Rankings: Nedbank Golf Challenge

The actual standings are available on www.europeantour.com, and there are 1,069,289 points (1 point=1 euro, according to Steve Todd of the European Tour) at stake for a victory at Nedbank.  The purse features a $1.25 million payout or 1,069,289.99 Euros.

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